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Urban Prototyping is a global series of festivals designed to explore the impact that participatory art, technology and design can have on the urban experience. Urban Prototyping: San Francisco (UP:SF) re-imagined three-blocks of downtown San Francisco with 23 interactive projects, 60 local and international performers, and 20 panelists. Over 100 artists, makers, students, activists, and entrepreneurs came together to examine the future of our cities and conceive of worthwhile, interesting and affordable ways to recreate public space - from a 10-Mile Garden to a Fruit Fence planter and modular biofilter urinals, read on for a look at some of our favorite projects!

Each of the 23 projects showcased at UP:SF is completely open source, can be replicated in cities around the world, combines elements of the digital and physical, and costs less than $1000 to build. At budget, these projects might take on a slightly different form (like being fully secure and weatherproofed), but even at this low price point they stand to teach us a great deal about our cities.

For the flora and fauna lovers, the Fruit Fence is a planting structure that can attached to just about any public fence. The urban orchard springs forth from AgBag-style technology, complete with care instructions and a unique hashtag. The 10-Mile Garden proposes to utilize some of San Francisco’s 9,000 existing fire hydrants and transform the porous concrete around them into succulent beds. The PPlanter is another forest-friendly idea that takes on the challenge of public urination by strategically placing reconfigurable urinals that are outfitted with modular biofilters to treat wastewater.

For the technologically inclined, the Darkness Map visualizes the city’s after hours luminosity on a human scale through crowd-sourced data collection. The Street Sensing project allows folks to track auditory and particle pollution using an Android app and existing open-source Arduino AirCasting platform. The data is then pooled and shared on AirCasting.org via a Crowdmap.

The festival is a temporary instance of what San Francisco–or any city–might look like if certain social and political barriers were removed and collaboration was truly embraced. The Urban Prototyping initiative will continue to act as a catalyst for the innovative ideas that build our economy and strengthen our communities. Next stop: London.

RELATED ARTICLES

Slideshow

The PPlanter is a scalable, reconfigurable public urinal and sink that uses modular biofilters to treat the wastewater. It was designed by Julia Schmitt, Mohit Gupta, Leslie Tom and Brent Bucknum.

PPlanter at Urban Prototyping San Francisco

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Urban Prototyping is a global series of festivals designed to explore the impact that participatory art, technology and design can have on the urban experience. Urban Prototyping: San Francisco (UP:SF) re-imagined three-blocks of downtown San Francisco with 23 interactive projects, 60 local and international performers, and 20 panelists. Over 100 artists, makers, students, activists, and entrepreneurs came together to examine the future of our cities and conceive of worthwhile, interesting and affordable ways to recreate public space - from a 10-Mile Garden to a Fruit Fence planter and modular biofilter urinals, read on for a look at some of our favorite projects!

The Fruit Fence is a hanging community garden. Hashtags allow the neighborhood to monitor and better care for the local orchard. This project was designed by Chacha Sikes.

fruit fence by chacha sikes

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The Fruit Fence is a hanging community garden. Hashtags allow the neighborhood to monitor and better care for the local orchard. This project was designed by Chacha Sikes.

Pulse of the City translates heartbeats into music and streams your heart rate data to the internet for anyone to explore and analyze. This project was designed by George Zisiadis, Matt Ligon, Rachel McConnell and Rich Trapani.

pulse of the city for urban prototyping festival san francisco

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Pulse of the City translates heartbeats into music and streams your heart rate data to the internet for anyone to explore and analyze. This project was designed by George Zisiadis, Matt Ligon, Rachel McConnell and Rich Trapani.

Fire hydrants are bland specs on the cityscape, the 10-Mile Garden proposes to transform these concrete islands into succulent beds. This project was designed by Anesta Iwan, Cesar Lopez, Marcella Del Signore and Mona El Khafif.

10 mile garden urban prototyping san francisco upsf

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Fire hydrants are bland specs on the cityscape, the 10-Mile Garden proposes to transform these concrete islands into succulent beds. This project was designed by Anesta Iwan, Cesar Lopez, Marcella Del Signore and Mona El Khafif.

Urban Parasol has got you covered. This modular structure can provide shelter from the sun, rain and wind. Assembled from a combination of open source design 3D-printed joints and ready-made objects by Roberto Gutierrez, Georgina Muñoz Reyes, Julia

urban parasol by aaron gutierrez, julia cerrud, georgina munoz reyes

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Urban Parasol has got you covered. This modular structure can provide shelter from the sun, rain and wind. Assembled from a combination of open source design 3D-printed joints and ready-made objects by Roberto Gutierrez, Georgina Muñoz Reyes, Julia Cerrud and Aaron Gutierrez.

This DIY Traffic Counter seeks to give more people a voice in the planning and design process of their transportation system by allowing anyone to accurately measure and visualize street traffic counts. Open-source design by Theodore UIlrich and Aurash Khawarzad.

diy traffic counter

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This DIY Traffic Counter seeks to give more people a voice in the planning and design process of their transportation system by allowing anyone to accurately measure and visualize street traffic counts. Open-source design by Theodore UIlrich and Aurash Khawarzad.

The Clip + Slide kit is a packaged kit that includes a set of brightly colored plexi-glass laminated wood strips that clip together to existing staircases, outfitted with sensors that are touch-activated to produce musical tones.

clip and slide by marina cristodoulides, yes duffy and allison owens

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The Clip + Slide kit is a packaged kit that includes a set of brightly colored plexi-glass laminated wood strips that clip together to existing staircases, outfitted with sensors that are touch-activated to produce musical tones.

There are about 150 public staircases in San Francisco; the Clip + Slide turns stairs into neighborhood playgrounds.

clip and slide urban prototyping upsf

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There are about 150 public staircases in San Francisco; the Clip + Slide turns stairs into neighborhood playgrounds.

An auditory adventure in data sonification, Good Fences Make Good Neighborhoods is an array of loudspeakers mounted to a chain-link fence.

Street Sensing is a crowdsourced sound and air pollution data collection effort that give real-time insights into local air quality. Android phone owners can borrow a pod and collect data. Then data are shared on AirCasting.org via a Crowdmap. The project was designed by Jeff Blair, Michael Heimbinder and Tim Dye.

street sensing urban prototyping san francisco upsf

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Street Sensing is a crowdsourced sound and air pollution data collection effort that give real-time insights into local air quality. Android phone owners can borrow a pod and collect data. Then data are shared on AirCasting.org via a Crowdmap. The project was designed by Jeff Blair, Michael Heimbinder and Tim Dye.

No urban expo would be complete without a live graffiti battle!

graffiti urban prototyping san francisco upsf

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No urban expo would be complete without a live graffiti battle!

CityPlay is an interactive, digital version of the iconic street game hopscotch that seeks to create a "corporeal connection to electronics and data." The game was designed by Martin Bednar, Noah Brezel, Emily Martiny, Julien Bloit, Paul Mans, Samantha Senn and Laurence Srinivasan.

citiplay urban prototyping san francisco upsf

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CityPlay is an interactive, digital version of the iconic street game hopscotch that seeks to create a "corporeal connection to electronics and data." The game was designed by Martin Bednar, Noah Brezel, Emily Martiny, Julien Bloit, Paul Mans, Samantha Senn and Laurence Srinivasan.

INSTANT [ play ] GROUND is a pedestrian-scale gameboard that fits in a suitcase and can be played just about anywhere. Each game is recorded by a stationary Wi-Fi station and uploaded to a website that offers up a live-feed. The game was designed by Anesta Iwan, Cesar Lopez, Mona El Khafif and Marcella Del Signore.

instant play ground urban prototyping san francisco upsf

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INSTANT [ play ] GROUND is a pedestrian-scale gameboard that fits in a suitcase and can be played just about anywhere. Each game is recorded by a stationary Wi-Fi station and uploaded to a website that offers up a live-feed. The game was designed by Anesta Iwan, Cesar Lopez, Mona El Khafif and Marcella Del Signore.